I have a Reg Barber 58 mm tamper. It fits and works well with the Breville baskets - probably works better than the Breville tamper. The longer wooden handle on the Reg Barber tamper gives a better grip and more control for tamping. And coffee sticks a lot less to the Reg Barber stainless steel base than to the Breville tamper base.

do you need bdb-specific information to remove that? the bdb also comes with double-wall portafilter baskets. did you need bdb specific information to know not to use those? some VERY high end espresso machines com with cheap plastic tampers. would you use those without having to told not to??

epengr Said:

"do a chemical back flush only when the machine’s “clean me” cycle comes up

no surprise. the bdb portafilter is 58mm. 58mm is one of the standard sizes for commercial portafilters. other 58mm baskets will fit too, but the breville's are the best on the market, so there's not much point in downgrading to another brand.

not bdb-specific. most machines do this too. my old saeco sbdu's do it. and i still use them... and that technique.

wanna know a tip that IS BDB-specific? the bdb seems more prone than some other serious espresso machines to spin the portafilter out of it's lugs if the gasket and the rim of the basket are not bone-dry before you lock in. that and don't waste your money on vst baskets with the fantasy that they are better than the BDB baskets. buy a vst basket if you FULLY understand what it offers (large hole-area-to-structure ratio), and it's effect on extraction, and have the knowledge and grinder to properly exploit it. most BDB buyers do not, based on the remedial subject matter in this thread. a VST basket should NOT be the go-to, default basket for the newbie who is all excited about good gear, with an itchy finger on the cash-incinerator button. as for technical quality, the stock BDB baskets are every bit as good if not better than the VST baskets from a technical perspective, (evenly sized and spaced holes with perfect roundness). Phil has posted magnified pictures of the holes in VST and Breville baskets in one of the threads. It will open your eyes if you think trading the Breville baskets for VST's is a trade up.

So today my Breville Dual Boiler stopped working - no water is coming out of the group head. Hot water dispenser and steam wand still work fine. Called Breville USA and they told me to ship the unit back to them and they will send me a working one.

Anyone send back a machine to Breville USA? How long does it take to get a replacement? Also, I guess I need to buy a big box to fit the machine in for shipping....

I am actually located in Los Angeles, but know if I can just return it to the headquarters here?

Lasted about 1 year - did about 5 shots a week so about 250 operations before the machine stopped working. I kept the machine cleaned - cleaned it when it flashed "clean me", changed the water filter every 2 months and even did the cleaning procedure shown on Youtube by Phil.

I've had my BDB since 12/10/11, bought during the super 30% sale at Williams-Sonoma. It has served me faithfully ever since - until yesterday :(. No pressure, hardly any water coming out (75 seconds for 60ml without a portafilter).

One quick call to Breville, and I've got a new replacement machine on the way! Kudos to them for awesome service. It wasn't a dude reading off a script, he was actually in front of a machine telling me which buttons to press.

Great customer experience! Sad to see my old machine go, but look at it this way - won't have to worry about descaling for another few years ;).

Sorry to hear.Similar thing happened to me.Left a message through the Breville Website and got a reply the next business day and an exchange was suggested.If you allow a 400$ hold on your credit card they will actually send you a new machine before you send in your old one. Good thing for me, since I had already discarded the old box. They also provide a return label free of charge.That was the good news ... However it took over 2 weeks and several calls to get a replacement. They told me they were out of new machines... Not sure what that was all about. In the end they sent one 2nd day delivery.

Unfortunately that is not the end of the story:The replacement machine had some fogging on the pressure gauge, which turned into a frank fluid level. This time they were very prompt in turning around the replacement, and 2nd day delivery was offered right away.My new machine (which I have had now for a week) also has some fogging, but I was reassured that this may occurr and is generally harmless - the first one never had this problem, however. Will see how it goes.

I am pleased and surprised how readily they ship a replacement...I guess they have to, given the quality of these machines - there seem to be quite a few lemons out there (including on this thread). Still growing pains?When they work, they are awesome. And as long as they send me a replacement, I will continue pulling my shots off the BDB.Good luck!

I chose to have them put a hold on my CC and send me the replacement first. Then I sent back my original machine in the package the replacement came in. I am in NC and the machine came from NY, so it took about 2-3 days to get here.

I was wondering if some owners were willing to give a little update on their machines; along the lines of shots pulled, months owned, issues, comments.

FYI to check the shots pulled turn the machine off, press all 4 little (menu) buttons then hit the power button, it should display a number, multiply that by 10 and you have your shot count.

I'll start off:

Shots Pulled: 650Months Owned: 5.5Issues: NadaComments: I have been more impressed with this thing than I thought possible; I visited blue bottle in San Fran and got a shot from their Lever Mistral and I would objectively say that what I'm brewing is on par.

Shots Pulled: 2130 > 6 second cycles (maybe half of that full double draws to make coffee.)Months Owned: 6.5Issues: My unit has developed the dribble of water out the heated water valve / nozzle. Smallish volume, not more than an ounce over multiple uses during the day. Nothing upsetting, just an awareness there is a needle valve which doesn't seat as well as it might with thermal transients.Comments: A brilliant demonstration of manufacturing to goals and objectives at a price point which makes it possibly a market influence. Only reservations is how Breville totes up their costs/advantages balance sheet going forward. That will only be what it will be in time.

Coming down to the BDB from an NS Oscar, I"ve been able to get excellent microfoam and decent art right away. I find the BDB WAY easier to steam with. The Oscar's a brutal, unforgiving dragon, the DBD is nearly magical to me.

From what you describe, I'd suggest waiting 5-10s (15s?) before pouring, swirling very gently, if at all. I find this gives the foam time to "set". I think what's happening in the foam is slowly coming to the surface allowing you to pour the milk out form under it and have the foam come out last to draw with. If you wait too long, you'll get a think "cappuccino" cap in you pitcher that'll come out as a lump. It's all in the timing.

thanks for the tip. what you described is exactly what is happening. i get at the very end a thick amount of foam at the end of the pour. any suggestions on how to avoid that? i've tried swirling it gently..and violently and waited for it to set too.

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